get_scale_data {deeptime}R Documentation

Get geological timescale data

Description

This function takes a name of a geological timescale and returns data for the timescale. Valid names include those of built-in data.frames (periods(), epochs(), stages(), eons(), or eras()), partial matches of those names (e.g., "per" or "age"), and partial or exact matches to those hosted by Macrostrat (see Details below). Note that the colors in the built-in data.frames are according to the Commission for the Geological Map of the World. If you would like to obtain custom Macrostrat colors that are better for mapping, you should specify the full name of a timescale (e.g., "international periods") and set true_colors to FALSE. Note that these colors only vary for the Precambrian.

Usage

get_scale_data(name, true_colors = TRUE)

Arguments

name

The name of the desired timescale.

true_colors

Return original international time scale colors? (as opposed to custom Macrostrat plotting colors)

Details

The following timescales are available from the Macrostrat API as of 2024-10-25:

The most up-to-date list can be found via the Macrostrat API here.

Value

A data.frame with the following columns:

name

the names of the time intervals

max_age

the oldest boundaries of the time intervals, in millions of years

min_age

the youngest boundaries of the time intervals, in millions of years

abbr

either traditional abbreviations of the names of the time intervals (if they exist) or custom abbreviations created with R

color

hex color codes associated with the time intervals (if applicable)

lab_color

default label colors for the time interals, either white or black, whichever has better contrast with the background color, based on recommendations by the International Telecommunication Union


[Package deeptime version 2.1.0 Index]